Adriaan Andries van Ballegooijen "Aad"

Aad was born June 15, 1953, in the village of Wijk en Aalburg, the Netherlands. The second child of Nel van Ballegooijen and Corrie van der Maaden, he grew up in a large family, surrounded by his five siblings, grandparents, and many other relatives and friends. He met Christine Lacki while visiting the United States in 1979, and they married October 17, 1980. After living together in the Netherlands for a few years, Aad and Chris moved to Palo Alto, California, where their daughter Sarah was born in 1984.

Aad developed a keen interest in astronomy in early childhood, and his passion for scientific inquiry led him to a long and fruitful research career. He received his Ph.D. in 1982 from the University of Utrecht. He was employed for most of his career at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After his retirement, he continued to collaborate with other physicists and contribute to new research. Universally respected among his colleagues for his humility, ingenuity and creative approach to problems in solar physics, his presence within that community will be sorely missed.

Aad extended his love to all of his American family, including Chris's parents and siblings, and was greatly loved in return. He moved through his whole life with goodness and a quiet dignity. The positive impact on our lives of his kindness, intelligence and love cannot be overstated. Words alone can never express adequately who he was as a human being, nor the magnitude of the loss we feel at his passing.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Aad's memory to the https://reservations.dallasarboretum.org/MembershipAndDonations.aspx?TributeOnly=True#_ga=2.34990694.678606452.1630608453-322242770.1630608453" style="color: #0000FF;" >Dallas Arboretum, 8525 Garland Road, Dallas, TX 75218.

A graveside service for Adriaan will be held Friday, September 3, 2021, from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Hillcrest Mausoleum & Memorial Park, 7405 West Northwest Highway, Dallas, TX, 75225.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.Sparkman-Hillcrest.com for the van Ballegooijen family.